Avenging Heart

by Desni Dantone

  I thought Kris and Hecate were an illusion until Kris threw herself into my arms. As happy as we both were to be back together again, Hecate didn’t give us much time to enjoy our reunion.

  “Hurry,” she ordered. “We need to move quickly.”

  “What’s happening?” Jared wondered.

  “I put a temporary bind on the Olympians,” Hecate replied. “Come. We must go now.”

  She ushered us into a tight circle in the center of the room before chanting a series of words.

  “Alec . . .” Kris shifted, leaving a gap between her mother and herself, which I assumed was occupied by the one member of our group the rest of us couldn’t see. At my questioning glance, she explained, “I want him to stay with us. If there’s a chance that he could—” Her head whipped around to the empty space beside her. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re coming with us.”

  I wanted to ask where we were going, but ran out of time to get the words out. Hecate’s chants were drowned out by a sudden gust of wind that swirled around the room. There was a brief moment of absolute blackness, combined with the sensation of freefalling. My eyes involuntarily squeezed shut from the unexpected rush.

  When they opened again, I found myself standing in the middle of the trail on the side of Mount Olympus—outside the mountain. The sun had started to set over the horizon, and the air had a slight chill in advance of the approaching night. We were all there.

  Jared’s dazed expression likely matched mine. Poor Bruce looked a little on the green side. Lillian and Kris obviously handled it better than the rest of us.

  Despite none of us having a clue as to why or what we were doing here, we all moved when Hecate ordered us to do so. She put us all to work, pouring and mixing compounds from her directions, while she drew symbols on the ground around us.

  For what was anyone’s guess.

  “Hecate,” I started tentatively. I didn’t want to question her intentions, but I needed to know what we were doing. “Is this for the time manipulation spell?”

  “There has been a slight change of plans,” she responded quickly as she moved on to another symbol. “The gods will never let Kris go as long as she is a demigod. The time manipulation will only hide her for a short time. We must sever her from her powers to protect her indefinitely.”

  “There’s a way to make me . . . not a demigod?” Kris questioned timidly.

  Hecate’s hesitation didn’t give me a lot of confidence. Her words completely stomped out what little bit I had left. “It’s never been successfully done before,” she admitted.

  Kris met my gaze warily. “How is it supposed to be done?” she asked.

  “The glory blade. Used on a god, it will destroy his essence. It’s been theorized to work on demigods as well.”

  I chuckled humorlessly. “We’re going to go with a theory?”

  “I have a plan,” Hecate assured. “But we must be precise. No hesitation, or all could be lost.” She stood from her newest set of symbols to look at me. “You still have the blade I gave you?”

  As I nodded, Hecate’s gaze swung over my shoulder, and her eyes widened.

  “They’re coming,” she announced. “We need to do this now.”

  Hecate turned and extended another blade to Kris, identical to the one in my possession. Kris’s eyes hooded as they lowered to the weapon now in her hands. Her body shook from a fear that matched my own.

  Something didn’t feel right. To Hecate, I protested, “She can’t . . .” I couldn’t let her do this.

  It had never successfully been done before. I couldn’t stand back and watch while Kris risked her life to test Hecate’s theory. Even if it was the only way.

  No. There had to be another way.

  “What do I do?” Kris’s voice quavered as she questioned Hecate.

  My gaze swung toward the group of gods descending on us while Hecate led Kris into the center of the circle drawn on the ground. The rest of our small group stood ready, useless weapons drawn, to defend Kris and ourselves. Mere humans standing toe to toe with immortals.

  My gaze met Jared’s, and he nodded. Of all the messes we had gotten ourselves into, this one trumped them all. Less than one minute before the gods reached us . . . and nowhere to go.

  Hecate’s hushed instructions to Kris reached my ears, and I forgot all about the gods. I spun around abruptly. “What?”

  “She must sacrifice herself with the glory blade,” Hecate repeated to me as she stepped out of the circle, leaving Kris alone in the center.

  “No, that’s not—” I took a step toward Kris. A blast of power struck me in the chest, and prevented me from coming any closer. I looked to Hecate, but it wasn’t her.

  It was Kris.

  “I have to do this,” she told me. “For Callie, and for me. For us.”

  The hand she used to hold me back lowered as she muttered a series of words. Freed from her magic, I lunged for her . . . but I was too late. Gripping the glory blade with both hands, she thrust the pointed end into her chest. Right in front of me.

  A bright white light engulfed Kris. A burst of energy erupted from her body, shooting me to the ground several yards away as Kris dropped to her knees. She slouched forward, falling face down in the center of the circle.

  Jared’s hand on my shoulder prevented me from crawling to her. Hecate’s chanting voice rose sharply over the shouts of the gods as they neared. I spun on her with murder in my eyes.

  “It failed!” I snapped.

  “No,” Hecate returned calmly. “She is here. I have trapped her soul. You must use the glory blade in your hands to fight off The Collector.”

  “Where?” Jared asked.

  Hecate’s eyes darted from side to side before leveling on a spot over my shoulder. “There.”

  I followed her gaze, but saw nothing. Hecate chanted something quickly, and a ghastly illusion appeared in front of me. Adorned in the tattered shreds of a long black coat, his face hidden in the shadows of an oversized hood, The Collector moved past me with intent. I was insignificant to him. He had Kris’s soul in his sights.

  Do not hesitate.

  I lifted the blade above my head, and thrust down, making contact with The Collector between the shoulder blades. Like I had seen happen after Kris and Circe had been stabbed with it, a bright light exploded from the wound I created. The force that accompanied it knocked me back several steps. When the light faded, The Collector was gone.

  Hecate gave me a nod of approval. “He’s gone back to the underworld,” she assured me.

  “Kris?”

  “She’s here. I need another minute, and then we’re all getting out of here.”

  I didn’t have time to ask how she intended to make that happen. The gods had reached us.

  A bolt of lightning that struck close enough to singe the tips of my hair served as our warning. One that we responded to with a unified stance of defiance. The second glory blade, which Kris had used, was now in Jared’s hand. He and I stepped to the frontline together to face the gods.

  Three of them—Zeus, Poseidon, and Ares—led the mob of eight. With a wave of Zeus’s hand, the others’ loudly voiced complaints quieted to that of a low rumble. His eyes were on Kris’s body where it had fallen.

  “What happened here?” Zeus demanded.

  “What’s it look like?” I returned curtly. Only Hecate’s claim—that Kris’s soul was still there, and the hope that Hecate had something up her sleeve—kept me from wanting to join Kris. Anger temporarily disguised my anguish.

  “The curse?” Poseidon questioned.

  “Her sacrifice broke it.” I looked back and forth between the two gods who held the most power. “It’s over. I don’t suppose you plan to see the rest of us safely off the mountain, do you?”

  Behind me, a low whirring noise started. A warm breeze developed, and intensified along with the whir. It brushed against the back of my neck like a soft kiss. I refrained from turning around to see what Hecate was doing, but I suspecte
d the time had come for us to get out of there. If the gods permitted us to leave.

  “It is done, Zeus,” Hecate declared. “They are leaving.”

  Zeus’s gaze slid over my shoulder to evaluate Hecate coolly. Beside me, Jared tensed, ready for a rebuttal. Though they were without productive weapons, Bruce and Lillian stood shoulder to shoulder on my other side.

  “That cannot happen,” Zeus returned. “These hybrids have worked in allegiance with—”

  The breeze swirled behind me, and quickly strengthened. The hem of my shirt flapped from the force of the gust. The roar effectively cut off Zeus’s argument, and prompted the other gods to take a unified step toward us. A wall of fire shot up in front of me, blocking them from our group.

  “Now!” Hecate ordered. “We must go now!”

  I backed away from Zeus’s furious glare, barely visible through the flames, as the others retreated to Hecate’s side. With a parting smirk directed at him and Poseidon, I turned to find Hecate’s symbols replaced by a swirling blue hole in the ground.

  “What is it?” I shouted above the roar of the wind as I approached.

  “The portal to a new time.” Hecate waved us forward. “Go. All of you. Quickly.”

  “What about Kris?”

  “I have her soul,” Hecate assured me.

  “And her body?”

  “Carry her through with you. But first . . .” Hecate touched my arm, which held the glory blade. “I need you to destroy my essence.”

  I took a step back. “What?”

  A crack of lightening split the sky, illuminating the quickly developing black rain cloud that had rolled in over the mountain. As the resulting waves of thunder shook the ground, the cloud burst open, soaking my hair and clothes within seconds.

  Another thirty seconds, and the rain would extinguish the fire. We didn’t have time for questions, but I couldn’t be sure I understood her correctly.

  “Go! Go!” Hecate pushed Lillian and Bruce toward the portal.

  I watched as they dove, hand in hand, into the hole in the ground, and disappeared from my sight. Jared stepped into my periphery, and gave me an encouraging nod as Hecate turned her attention back on me.

  “I gave it to you because I knew you would do what was best for my daughter,” Hecate told me. “The gods . . . Hades . . . they will never stop looking for me as long as I am the goddess of magic. I choose to be free. I choose my daughter.”

  This was my reason for having the glory blade. Not only to defend Kris from The Collector, but to take Hecate’s essence—to render her a powerless immortal. This was the reason behind her words to me earlier.

  Do not hesitate . . .

  This was what she wanted.

  I raised the blade, and did exactly what Hecate had asked of me. I thrust the blade into the center of her chest. The explosion rocked me, but I was prepared for it this time. Instead of flying backwards, I wobbled only a few steps.

  Hecate’s hands clamped down on my wrist to steady me. Behind her, Jared jumped into the portal. The blue swirling circles waned as he disappeared from my sight.

  “Grab my daughter,” she instructed me. “Quickly, before we lose the magic I created.”

  With Kris’s limp body securely in my arms, I jumped into the fading portal with Hecate. The ground swallowed us up as we were transported into whatever life awaited us. The door slammed shut behind us, and there was no going back.

  Chapter 25

  ~ Kris ~

  I jumped with a start. My hand flew to my chest, to the spot where I last remembered stabbing myself. Nothing. No gaping wound. Not a drop of blood.

  My arm reached out to touch the mirror I stood in front of, and the reflection of the girl that stared back at me. She looked . . . normal. Happy even.

  What just happened?

  And where was I?

  Somewhere safe, I gathered by the muted walls adorned with tranquil landscape paintings, heaps of vases filled with colorful flowers, and set of matching plush chairs pointed out a large bay window in the room I stood alone in. The windows framed the vivid colors of an expansive garden that stretched across a long courtyard. At the other end stood a white gazebo, wreathed with more flowers. Three men arranged white fold-up chairs, all facing the gazebo steps.

  A squeak jumped up my throat when a door banged open behind me. I turned to find Callie bustling into the room. In her hands was a white gown, but I barely noticed it.

  I wasn’t dreaming this time, I was sure of that. The dress’s silky material bunched between us as I swept her into a tight hug. I only loosened my hold on her long enough to wipe away the single tear that had oozed onto my cheek.

  “Kris, you’re kind of suffocating me a little bit,” Callie grunted in a strained voice.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I sighed into her elaborate up-do before releasing her . . . some. Not completely. I wasn’t ready to let her stray too far yet.

  She eyed me peculiarly. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

  I pushed her to arm’s length to study her face. She squinted at me, and I realized that she didn’t know. She had no knowledge of her ordeal, nor the trouble I had gone through to get her out of it.

  I remembered it all. Minutes ago, I had been on Mount Olympus. I had sacrificed myself to save Callie and countless other humans, and to free myself from my role as a demigod. My mother had trapped my soul while Nathan fought off The Collector that had come to claim me. I had been pulled through the time manipulation portal with them. . .

  And I ended up here. With Callie alive and well, and completely oblivious. After all she had seen and experienced, perhaps that was for the best.

  “No reason,” I finally muttered.

  “You better not be getting cold feet,” Callie reprimanded me.

  “What?” My eyes dropped to the ball of white fabric in Callie’s hand as she held it out to me. For the first time, I realized it was a wedding gown. “No freaking way.”

  Callie frowned. “Are you still drunk from last night?”

  No, I was suffering from something far worse than a hangover right now. Instead of saying anything resembling the truth to Callie, I answered, “No. I think . . . I’m just . . . excited?”

  Mostly confused.

  “Good. Because it’s time for you to get dressed.”

  Callie waved the gown under my nose, and I took it in my hands gingerly. Apparently, I had picked it out at some point, because it looked exactly like something I would wear. It bothered me that I had no memory of picking out my own wedding dress. While I stared at it with a furrowed brow, Callie bounced around the room like a hyper kangaroo, oblivious to my bewilderment.

  “I can’t wait to meet the best man,” she gushed. “That groom of yours better have picked a cute one.” She stopped buzzing long enough to flash me a grin. “Hot guys always have hot friends. At least that’s what . . .”

  I partially tuned Callie out as the significance of one word she had said slammed into me. Groom. With a rush of apprehension, it occurred to me that I was living an entirely different life than the one I had known only five minutes ago. According to Hecate’s explanation of time manipulation, the past year had been a do-over.

  Was the man I was marrying the man I loved, and the one I had intended to marry in another life?

  A quick glance at the ring on my finger quieted my panicked thoughts. I had to be marrying Nathan. I was still wearing the ring he had given me.

  A soft knock came from the door, and Callie shot me a warning look. “Hold up. Someone’s here,” she announced before bounding across the room to see who it was.

  The open door blocked my view of the person Callie greeted. But I heard the voice that answered her. The sound of it sent a jolt straight to my heart, and carried my feet across the room to see with my eyes what I couldn’t believe I had heard with my ears.

  Green eyes rose over Callie’s shoulder to meet mine, and my hands flew to my mouth to muffle the cry of joy that rolled off my tongue. Ca
llie moved to the side as I threw myself into his welcoming arms. His warm breath tickled my neck, and his light chuckle melted my heart.

  “You’re alive,” I whispered.

  “You should know by now that you can’t get rid of me that easily,” Alec returned. He squeezed me tight once before loosening his hold. Dropping his mouth to my ear, he asked, “Callie doesn’t know, does she?”

  I shook my head as I stepped back. While having no recollection of the events that had nearly led to her death was probably a good thing, it was a blow to realize she had no memory of anything we had gone through.

  That included no memory of Alec, which was evident from the slight scowl on her face as she watched us. “Who’s this?” she asked.

  “Alec,” I responded automatically.

  Callie shot him a cursory glance before raising a dubious eyebrow at me.

  “He’s Nathan’s brother. From Colorado. We weren’t sure if he was going to be able to make it, or not,” I gushed a quick excuse to explain my extreme reaction at seeing him, since Callie had definitely noticed. “There was some, uh . . .” I glanced at Alec for help, but only got an amused grin. “There was a mix-up with his travel arrangements.”

  That actually wasn’t entirely a lie.

  Though she still regarded him skeptically, Callie bought my explanation. “You’re Nathan’s brother?”

  “Apparently,” Alec returned.

  “Then you must be the best man,” Callie concluded.

  Alec’s grin grew to astronomical proportions. “Yes. Yes, I am the best man. A damn good one, too.” To me, he added, “My brother asked me to give the bride a message before the ceremony.”

  “Ahh,” Callie swooned. “I love him more and more every day.” She squeezed between Alec and I, where we stood in the doorway. “I’m going to go get your mom. We’ll be right back, and then you need to get dressed.”

  She added that last part with a warning glance at Alec—her polite way of saying, ‘hurry up, because we have a wedding to get to.’ Like a maid of honor who took her position seriously.

  After the door shut behind her, I asked Alec, “My mom?”

  He shrugged. “I know as much as you do. Nathan actually sent me to find out who he was marrying. He was kind of hoping it was you, but none of us really know what the hell is going on right now.”